William w



(No Model.)

W. W. SCOTT.

YACHT CANNON. Y No. 581,495. Patented Apr. 27, 1897.

. h N N @n Na M @N UNITED STATES PATENT OEE-ICE.

WILLIAM W. SCOTT, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNORTO THE LAVIGNE &SCOTT MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

YACHT-CANNON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 581,495, dated April27, 18.97.

Application filed August 2, 1893.

'To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM W. Scorr, of New Haven, in the county of NewHaven and :State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inYacht-Cannon, Case B and I do hereby declare the following, when takenin connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of referencemarked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, andrepresent, in-

Figure 1, aview in side elevation of a cannon constructed in accordancewith my in- Vention; Fig. 2, a view thereof in rear elevation with thebreech-block shown in its closed position, its open position beingindicated by broken lines; Fig. 3, a view of the gun in verticallongitudinal central section; Fig. 4, a view thereof in vertical sectionon the line a; a: of Fig. 3; Fig. 5, abroken view of thegun in erticallongitudinal section on the line y -y of My invention relates to animprovement in small breech-loading cannon of the type commonly calledyacht-cannon, the object being to provide a simple, safe, andeasily-operated gun in which provision is made for positively openingand closing the breechblock.

With these ends in view my invention consists in a cannon having alongitudinal slot extending transversely across its breech and openingrearward, a breech-block arranged to slide in the said slot, and meansconnected with the said block for sliding it back and forth.

My invention further consists in a cannon having certain details ofconstruction and combinations'of parts, as will be hereinafterdescribed, and pointed out in the claims.

In carrying out my invention I form a longitudinal horizontal slot A inthe extreme rear end of the breech of the gun B, the inner portions ofthe upper and lower walls of the said slot being undercut, as at a a.The said slot is of uniform width, and, as shown, extends transverselyacross the center of the breech of the gun and opens rearward. Thesliding breech-block C of the gun is adapted to fit into the said slotand to slide back and forth therein, and is provided -midway be- SerialNo. 482,142. (No model.)

tween its ends with a central rearwardly-projecting knob C' of ordinaryform.

To adapt the block to fit into the slot A and the undercut-s a athereof, it is formed with an upwardly-projecting shoulder which entersthe upper undercut a and a downwardlyprojecting shoulder which entersvthe lower undercut a. The lower shoulder of the block is cut to formarack c, which is engaged by a pinion D, located in a cylindricalchamber E, open at its outer end and formed in the breech ofthe gun at apoint below and at one side of a vertical line passing through the boreB thereof.

I may remark here that it is necessary to locate the pinion to one sideof the bore of the gun in order to provide for vmoving the blocksuliciently to clear the open rear end of the bore B' of the gun, .so asto permit the free introduction and extraction of the cartridges.- Whenthe pinion is located to one side of the bore, it engages with the blockto one side of the longitudinal center thereof and provides for throwingthe samel sufficient-ly to clear its opposite end entirely from thebore. The said pinion is formed,as herein shown, by cutting teeth upon ashaft F, which is held in place in the chamber E by means of a threadedcollar G, the inner end of which engages with the outer edge of thepinion.

The eXtreme inner end of the shaft, which is reduced, has bearing in asocket E', formed to receive it at the inner end of the chamber E, whilethe enlarged middle portion of the shaft has bearing in the collar G.The extreme outer end of the shaft is provided with a square shank E2,which receives the operating-handle H, which is secured to the shank bya screw h.

The pinion and rack are combined, so that when the handle H is broughtinto vertical position the block C will close the breech of the gun. Bythrowing the handle outward the breech-block is moved radially outwardand the breech opened. I thus provide for a positive operation of thebreech-block, which I am enabled to move very readily bac-k and forth.In case the block becomes stuck or bound,by reason of corrosion of themetal or for any other reason, the leverage secured by the handleenables it tobe started and opened.

IOO

To render the loading of the gun more convenient, I bevel the outer endof the upper wall Vof the slot A, as at A', and construct the upper edgeof the breech-block G with a corresponding extension C2. Thisconstruction enables a person standing above the gun to load it withmore facility. The handle or lever might be replaced by a wheel. Asarranged, the handle engages with the knob to limit the sliding movementof the breechblock in either-direction, stopping it in its full open andclosed positions.

The knob C of the breech-block is longitudinally chambered to receive afiring-hammer C3, provided at its forward end with a firing-pin c' andnormally retired by means of a hammer-spring c2, interposed between theforward end of the hammer and the forward end of the bore formed in theblock and knob. The outer end of the hammer is constructed .with a4 slotC4, containing a pin c3, which is engaged by the inner end of afiringlever c4, hung below the knob on a staple c5, dependingtherefrom,the outer end of the said lever being perforated for the attachment ofthe firing-cord, which is not shown. The said firing mechanism may bereplaced by any other suitable devices for the same purpose. I do notclaim it in this application, having elected to claim it in anotherapplication executed in even date herewith and 'serially numbered482,141.

This gun may be provided with an extractor of any approved construction.As

herein shown, the breech of the gun is constructed with a longitudinalchamber .I,.lo cated opposite the pinion D and shaft F and in the samehorizontal plane therewith. The said chamber receives an extractor-slideJ, having an extractor K attached to its upper edge, provided at itsouter end with a pivotal operating-piece L and having its forward endchambered to receive an extractorspring M, the rear end of which issecured tothe wall. The forward end of the spring is attached to a screwN, entered into the gun at the forward end of the said chamber I. I donot in vthis application claim the said extractor, which I have claimedin another application executed of even date herewith and beforereferred to.

It is apparent that in carrying out my invention some changes from theconstruction herein shown and described may be made, and Iwouldtherefore have it understood that I do not limit myself to the exactconstruction shown herein, but hold myself at liberty to make suchchanges and alterations as fairly fall within the spirit and scope of myinvention. I am aware, however, that a cannon construct-ed in its breechwith an opening to receive a breech-block operated by a rack and pinionis old, and I do not claim that construction broadly.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

l. A breech-loading cannon having a horizontall y-arran ged longitudinalslot extending entirely across its breech and opening rearward, and alsohaving a pinion-chamber and an extractor-chamber formed in its breechbelow the said slot and opening rearward; a horizontally-movable slidingbreech-block located in the said slot, provided upon its lower edge witha rack and constructed with a centrally-arranged rearwardly-projectingknob; a pinion meshing into the said rack, and l0- cated in the saidpinion-chamber; a handle or lever connected with the said pinion forrotating the same to slide the block positively back and forth, andlocated to the rear of the breech of the cannon and the body of the saidblock; firin g devices located in the said knob; and an extractorlocated in the said extractorchamber, substantially as described.

2. A breech-loading cannon having a longitudinal slot extendingtransversely across its breech and opening rearward.; a slidingbreech-block located in the said slot, constructed upon its ylower edgewith a rack, and also constructed with a central outwardly-projectingknob; a pinion located .ina chamber formed in the breech of the gunbelow the said slot and to one side of theboreof thegun, and meshinginto the said rack; a handle or level for rotating the said pinion toslide the said block positively back and forth, and arranged to engagewith the knob of. the block which limits its movement; firing devicesmounted in the knob of the block, and an extractor, substantiallyasdescribed.

3. A breech-loading cannon, having a horizontally-arran ged longitudinalslot extending entirely across its breech, and opening outward, theinner portionsof the upper and lower walls of the said slot beingundercut, and the outer portion of the upper wall of the slot beingbeveled vor cut away, a sliding .breech-block located in the said slotand constructed with an upwardly and a downwardly projecting shoulderentering the said upper and lower undercuts of the slot, and having itsupper portion provided with an extension corresponding to the beveledportion of the breech, a rack located upon the lower shoulder of theblock, a pinion located below the lower wall of the slot and coactingwith the rack for positively sliding the breech-block back and forththerein, a handle connected with the pinion for operating it to slidethe block, firing mechanism located in the knob of the block, and anextractor.

4. A breech-loading cannon having a slot in its breech, the outer end ofthe upper wall of the slot being beveled or cut away, a slidingbreech-block located in the said slot, and having its upper edgeprovided with an extension corresponding with the said beveled portionof the breech, and means for positively sliding the said block back andforth, substantially as described. v

5. A breech-loading cannon having a slot formed in the extreme rear endYof its breech IOO IIO

and opening rearward, asliding breech-block either direction, of theblock, substantially located in the said slot and constructed with asdescribed. a rack andwithacentral rearwardly-project- In testimonywhereof I have signed this ing knob, firing devices mounted in the saidspecification in the presence of two subscrib- 5 knob, a pinion mountedin the breech and ing Witnesses. meshinginto the said rack, anda leveror han- Y l y dle for rotating the said pinion .to slide the WM W SCOT Fblock positively back and forth, the said han- Witnesses: dle beingconstructed to engage with opposite FRED C. EARLE,

I o points on the knob to limit the movement, in LILLIAN D. KELSEY.

